Chapter 3

Evelyn stood at the entrance wearing an elegant white designer suit. Her eyes were red, playing the victim to perfection.

The reporters went wild. This was the drama they came for.

I stopped, slipped off my sunglasses, and looked at her calmly.

"Making a scene?" I raised an eyebrow. "How am I making a scene?"

"You..."

Evelyn bit her lip, tears swimming in her eyes.

"You're sitting on all that wealth while Dad loses sleep every night over the company. After how you treated him yesterday, his blood pressure spiked through the roof..."

"Miss Evelyn Vance," I cut her off, my voice steady and clear enough for every microphone to pick up.

"Let's get two things straight. First, every cent I have was earned through my own ability. It didn't fall from the sky, and it certainly didn't come from your family. Second, Richard's high blood pressure is the result of his own reckless greed. What does that have to do with me?"

"How can you say that?!"

Evelyn stared at me as if shocked by my bluntness, her tears spilling over.

"No matter what, he's still your father! Leaving him to die like this—doesn't your conscience bother you at all?"

"My conscience?"

I scoffed.

"Where was Richard's conscience twenty years ago when he dumped a one-year-old baby outside an orphanage in the middle of a snowstorm without even leaving a note?"

"Where were you all during those twenty years when I was eating leftovers and sleeping under highway bridges? Now that the Vance empire is crumbling, you suddenly remember I'm his daughter? Where was your family loyalty back then?"

Evelyn froze. She clearly hadn't expected me to air out the family's dirtiest secrets in broad daylight.

Her face paled, and she instinctively glanced toward the elevators.

Following her gaze, I saw Richard and Miranda storming out.

Richard looked thunderous. He had clearly heard every word.

Striding forward, he pointed a trembling finger right in my face:

"Chloe! How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum? I already explained everything about the past—we had our reasons!"

"You carry Vance blood! Do you think dragging our family name through the mud makes you look good?!"

"Your reasons?" I laughed as if I had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"What reasons? That you had a prettier, more obedient pet like Evelyn, which made me entirely disposable?"

"Shut your mouth!" Miranda screamed, lunging forward with her hand raised to slap me.

I moved fast, catching her wrist in an iron grip before her hand could touch my skin.

"Mrs. Vance, trying to get physical the moment you lose an argument? Is this that high-class breeding you're always bragging about?"

"You... let go of me!" Miranda thrashed against my grip, her manicured nails scratching red welts onto my arm.

I shoved her back with force. She stumbled, nearly losing her footing.

"Ah! Richard, look at her! She's attacking me!" Miranda collapsed onto the floor, throwing a full-blown tantrum.

The cameras clicked frantically. I could already see tomorrow's headlines:

"Billionaire Heiress Attacks Step-Mother Outside Corporate Headquarters!"

Pure theater.

I looked down at the pathetic spectacle with utter disgust, then stepped into the center of the lobby and cleared my throat.

"Members of the press, since you're all here, I have a few things to say."